


It will never be enough

by Obliviouslarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Bottom Harry, BoyxBoy, Coming of Age, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Football | Soccer, Forbidden Love, Friends to Lovers, Harry Styles Loves Louis Tomlinson, Homophobia, Hurt Harry Styles, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Jealous Harry, Jealous Louis, Kinda, Louis Tomlinson Loves Harry Styles, M/M, Manchester United, Pining, Secret Crush, Secret Relationship, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smut, Strangers to Lovers, alternative universe, but I swear its only for a second, like really slow wow, mario au, okay so it's based on this amazing movie called mario, one direction - Freeform, please go watch it I've you havent yet, some of their teammates are dicks basically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2020-11-28 09:33:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20964335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obliviouslarry/pseuds/Obliviouslarry
Summary: Louis Tomlinson is an up-and-coming football star from the under 21 team of Manchester United. Having climbed his way up to being the captain of the team, he has the most promising career in the tough football world and works daily alongside his agent and manager, also known as his over caring father, to ensure he will make it into the 1st team the coming year.During training for the current season, the team decides to add another striker to its selection. This is where Harry Styles, formerly known as the captain and star striker of the under 21 team of Liverpool, comes into the story.The two of them form a great bond on the pitch as well as off the pitch, but what happens if it becomes more than just a friendship?or an au where two teammates fall in love when they're not supposed to





	1. where it all began

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic based on the movie Mario by Marcel Gisler. I absolutely fell in love with the movie and felt that it had the perfect vibe for a fanfiction, I highly recommend watching the movie at well it's definetly one of my all time fave coming to age movies ever. I plan on altering the ending to what it is in the originaly movie, but you just have to read and see ;)
> 
> small warning in the beginning whilst this still is a WIP, I tend to be a slow updater when my uni gets extremly busy (finals and stuff), so sorry for that. 
> 
> I would like to thank everyone for showing their support in the comment section and everyone that has been giving this work kudos, you guys keep me going <3
> 
> This is not betaed or britpicked, so if you find a mistake please let me know :)
> 
> you can find me on tumblr & twitter at @obliviouslarryx. feel free to send me a message if you want to!
> 
> \- Lisanne :)

**Mario**

_" In the bottom of my heart lies a secret which I have never told a soul in the world. There is an image of this person who is dearest to me and closer than anything else. " _

There he was. Standing before the doors of the Trafford Training Centre, this was going to be his year. He had climbed his way up to captain of the under 21 team of Manchester United and this was going to be the year where he would finally make the 1st team, the team he had been dreaming of since he set foot on the fresh grass of the training field of the Trafford Training Centre 2 years ago, having just turned freshly 18. He is 20 now and has become quite familiarised with the ways of Manchester United and he has seen many young guys come and go, but he, Louis Tomlinson, stuck around and his future seemed brighter than ever.

He enters the changing rooms with his sports bag casually swung across his shoulder and he looks around the room, greeting all the familiar faces that he has become so used. He finally sits down at his usual place after having received a few hugs from his mates and having to reciprocate several high fives. Louis is putting on his shin pads when he is startled by the loud voice of the trainer.

"Good morning lads"

Mumbles of good mornings are scattered across the room and Louis notices a lad, a handsome one he might add, of which he vaguely recognizes the face standing next to the trainer. He gives off a shy and slightly uncomfortable vibe for a second before recovering back to his seemingly confident and unbothered stance. The guy's eyes, of which he is yet to learn the name and reason of why he is in this room, meet Louis' for a second before shooting back to the trainer's position within a millisecond.

"As you guys all know the season is starting again this Saturday-" the trainer announces and groans are heard from around the roam

"- And we need to bring our A game this season in order to continue playing at this level" he continues. The truth is the team hadn't been doing that great last season. They lost the majority of the games, with only a few wins sprinkled in the mix. They were risking downgrading to a lower league this season if they didn't reach one of the top spots in the ranking this year and, because Louis' potential spot in the 1st team was also depending on the team's achievements, there was a lot depending on the success of this season.

"So, we've brought in a new player" as soon as these words left the mouth of the trainer, all of the remaining heads of the players who were not paying attention to the trainer's speech shot up. The team's lay-out had been pretty set for the past 2 years and the arrival of this new player was obviously seen as a potential threat to the established positions of a few players, therefor the arrival did definitely not improve the mood of a few players as they shot an angry glare at the newest addition to the team, who was standing there with his face showing no emotions.

"Harry Styles, He's a striker from Liverpool" suddenly Louis realizes where he recognized the face from, of course how could he have been so stupid, Harry Styles played in the under 21 of Liverpool last season as the second striker, they had even played a game against them (and lost but that is not important here). He was one of the best players of the team, making Louis wonder why Liverpool let him go in the first place. Louis looked around the room and saw multiple faces showing the same recognition as his own face must be displaying at the moment, some player's faces also showed fear, as they were realising that their position in the team, and potential position in the first team, were in danger.

Harry raises his hand to greet his new teammates as he mutters a hello, he's a little shocked at the unwelcoming glances being shot his way. However, he can't really blame them, if he was placed in their shoes he would also see himself as in intruder. He just hopes that he can change their opinions of him, as he does not want to be in the same hostile environment as he found himself in last year at Liverpool where the competitiveness just go the best of his teammates. His eyes scan around the locker room and he pauses for a second on the face of Louis Tomlinson. Louis Tomlinson is the captain of the team, and as a fellow striker he would probably be playing alongside him. Harry hast to admit that the lad is quite handsome, the way he radiates authority suits him very well. Harry snaps out of his thoughts, realising he might have been staring for a few seconds, maybe minutes, too long and he continues his glance around the changing room, hoping Louis hadn't noticed his lingering eyes.

Harry sits down next to one of the defenders and starts to change into his training gear as he looks around seeing everyone chatting and laughing together. He has to admit he feels a bit left out. Then, in the corner of his eyes he sees Louis staring at him and Harry decides to shoot him a smile, at which Louis adverted his eyes and start talking to the lad next to him.


	2. eye of the storm

The team was starting their practice with their usual warm ups, which Harry tried to follow as best as he could since this was still a new routine for him. Louis was, obviously, taking the lead in the warm ups, shouting some instructions throughout the several warm up exercises and Harry couldn't help but take an occasional look at him. They started doing an exercise in pairs where you held each other's hands and turned whilst holding on to each other hands, lifting the hands over their heads and down again, and Harry of course was paired with Louis as the would be playing together during the upcoming game and the trainers wanted them to get to know each other a little bit in order to play together at their best.

"So, why did you leave Liverpool?" Louis asked, trying to make some conversation with Harry. He had been wondering this to himself since the trainer had announced Harry's arrival. Harry felt a bit startled at the sudden disruption of the comfortable silence that was hanging between the two of them.

"I just didn't really enjoy playing in the team anymore, a lot of my team members became a bit too competitive, it was all about winning and not just having fun with each other. The environment turned a bit hostile after a while, you know? There was constant shouting, and you couldn't play one game or survive one practice without having constant shouting and insults being thrown at you." Harry said, deciding to just tell Louis the truth, he had to admit that telling a story whilst doing this exercise wasn't the easiest thing to do, but he managed.

"Oh, that sucks mate I’m sorry, I get why you left. Luckily that is not how our team works, we’re all mates here." Louis answered and shot the lad a wink between turns.

"I don't know if I agree with that actually, nobody really seemed too happy to have me here." Harry said, thinking back at the not too welcoming glances thrown at him in the changing room when it was announced that he was going to be joining the team for the season.

"Don’t worry, just give them a second to warm up to you, and if it matters, I'm happy you are here." Louis answered, feeling a little sorry for Harry, and shot him a smile. Harry returned the smile, before they settled back in a comfortable silence, continuing with the exercise.

\---

The time had arrived where they had finished the 20 minute long warm up and it was now time for the team to start the exercises where all of the players of the team would be involved, this was the part that Harry had been anxious about ever since he had entered the changing room and saw his new ‘team’ members not all too happy glances. He just hoped nobody would wipe out his ankle or something during the training as an attempt to refrain him from playing and possibly taking their place.

All of the strikers and midfielders where standing in a line whilst the defenders where positioned before the goal in which, of course, the goalie was placed. The purpose of the exercise was to set up a counter attack with three people and play together in order to pass the defenders and score a goal, easy as that. This exercise was going to break or make Harry’s reputation in the team, in order to do that he was going to have to put his best foot forward and show them what he was made of. He hear the trainer yell that it was the turn of the next group and Harry looked sideways at Aiden signalling that he was open to receive a pass, Aiden passed the ball to him and Harry started running forward as fast as he could, letting his footwork do the work for him and passing the defenders with ease. He heard the last defender groan as he passed him and then he was standing in front of the goal, it was just him and the goalie now, all he had to do was score this goal in order to change the team’s opinion about him and leave them impressed. He kicked the ball as hard as he could with his right foot and he saw the ball fly in, what seemed as slow-motion, the direction of the goal. Harry let out a big victory sigh of relief, trying to not seem too pleased with himself, as he saw the ball hit the net of the back of the goal. He did it. He really did it.

“Very good, Harry” The coach said in a load and seemingly strict tone, but a hint of satisfaction shone through his façade.

The reactions of his fellow teammates however weren’t as pleased as he had hoped and predicted. It was as the glances were getting even more hostile and he could see Aiden shooting daggers at him with his eyes a few meters in the distance. He looked at Louis, hoping to see a glint of proudness or happiness from him at least, but much to Harry’s dismay he saw Louis looking down at the ground with a frown playing on his face.

Louis had been watching as Harry had been doing the exercise, of course he was impressed by his skills and footwork that the assumingly younger lad was displaying. He sure had talent in Louis’ opinion, but playing so egotistically during his first practice with the team wasn’t Harry’s smartest move. If he had been hoping to have the team warm up to him, this definitely was not the way to do it. Sure he was showing the team that he got skills, but it could be seen as a tactical move by some to show his fellow teammates that he could easily take their place, and believe Louis that is not the position which you want to be in as the newbie.

\---

The training was just finished and they were walking towards the changing room again.

“They don’t recruit someone that good from Liverpool for our U21 team. He’s only here to warm up.” Louis said as he was walking in to the changing room.

“That’s what I said.” one of his teammates agreed with Louis’ statement.

“You don’t know that for sure.” another teammate stated loudly, sticking up for Harry. It was Niall, one of the teammates Louis actually got along with both in and off the field. He was one of the defenders of the team, he was the kind of player that never makes a foul or talked back to the coach, he was definitely one of the nicest guys Louis had ever met.

“I bet he’s going to be on the first team next year.” Louis wondered loudly to himself.

“Why isn’t he training with them than?” Aiden snapped back at him, glaring at Louis. He didn’t get why Louis thought this Harry guy was so amazing. In his opinion the guy was mediocre at most, definitely not better than him. He deserved to be on the first team next season, not Harry, not Louis, not anybody from this team except him. And Harry definitely wasn’t going to be taking his place in the field anytime soon.

“What’s the problem anyways? The guy is just coming to play for this team this season, just like the rest of us. He is a part of this team, whether you like it or not.” Niall said in the best angry tone that he could muster.

“The problem?” One of his teammates asked indignantly. “Only one player got moved up last year.” The guy continued, suggesting the fact that if Harry got moved up, no one else of them would be moved up.

“And three got moved up the year before. It’s about performance.” Niall stated, getting annoyed at the attitude of his teammates.

“Performance?” The other teammate answered back, laughing at Niall’s response.

The conversation came to an abrupt halt as Harry entered the room. Most of the guys where already done changing back into their normal clothes, but Harry got held back by the trainer and coach to evaluate his performance from the training.

“Hey, Liverpool.” Aiden greeted him. “Did you play in the first team last year?”

“No, in the under 21” Harry answered shortly.

“What position did you play?”

“Left winger, mostly” Harry answered casually whilst taking his shirt off, showing his well sculpted body that caught the glance of Louis.

“And now? Under 21 of Man U? What’s the plan?” Another teammate asked in a slightly hostile tone. This is exactly what Harry was afraid of, they were intimidated by him and they were probably hoping that by acting like a dick to him that he would leave the team, but he wasn’t going to give up this easily this time. He just had to withstand it and win their respect.

“Hopefully, the first team next year” Harry answered truthfully, wasn’t that what they all wanted? “But I’m staying here until then, looking forward to this year actually”

“Yeah, I can’t wait.” The teammate, he had yet to learn the name of, answered sarcastically.

The unnamed teammate and Aiden grabbed their bags and said their goodbyes before leaving the changing room to, presumably, go home.

Louis threw a sideways glance at Harry who was now also taking off his pants, completely showing of his fit little body, with a sad look on his face. Louis felt disappointed for Harry, going by the conversation they had earlier, this is exactly what he didn’t want anymore in his football career. Louis was just hoping that he would stay, and his reasons why probably made him a little selfish.


	3. transitions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii guys, thank you all so much for reading. If you ever notice any mistake, grammar wise, typos or plot holes, please let me know so I can fix it! I don’t have a beta and English isn’t my first language, so I still find it quite hard sometimes to write a whole story in English. :)

Louis was sitting at home alone, he still lives at his parent’s place, behind his laptop eating a bowl of cereal, because that is what he considered to be a healthy and well-nurturing lunch. Some might disagree, but he couldn’t cook to save his life so believe him it was better for everyone if he didn’t even come in close proximity to the stove, let alone use it to actually cook some nutritious food for himself. So a bowl of cereal it was.

He probably wouldn’t admit it if you asked him, but he was looking Harry up online, scrolling through all the information available about him. Literally everything about this guy could be found online, his shoe size, position on the field, even the football club where he used to play as a little kid. In his thorough research on Harry he found some articles from some ordinary gossip sites, talking about Harry’s apparent numerous one night stands. Harry was quite known as the womanizer in the tabloids, Louis however couldn’t possibly see Harry in such a way, in the few hours that Louis had known him he had seemed such a sweetheart not possessing the capability to use people in such way. He also stumbled upon a few articles suggesting Harry was gay, could that possibly be true?

Louis himself had also had a few similar articles written about his own sexuality, since he had never had a girlfriend during his time at Manchester United, however they had been quickly discarded with the help of his agent. Truthfully, Louis wasn’t exactly sure about his sexuality, he had never been in love with a woman, neither had he found them extremely arousing, but he assumed that was normal, since he had never loved a man either. Sure he found men quite attractive, but he could also look at a woman and find her pretty, so he didn’t really see finding men attractive as a sign that he was gay or something. In all honesty, he didn’t want to know as well, he didn’t want to think about the possibility of him being gay, because it would definitely harm his football career, and football was the most important thing in his whole life.

Somehow he stumbled upon Harry’s Instagram, it was interesting if he had to describe Harry’s account in one word. There were some really cute pictures of Harry with his family and, of course also some pictures of him playing football on his Instagram, but what Louis found the most funny were all the random pictures of things such as: animals, food, clothes, random scribbles, etc. This guy was such a dork. He clicked the follow button before closing his laptop and standing up from the table to head upstairs to his room.

\---

It was the next day and Harry was changing into his football gear again for practice, he wasn’t exactly looking forward to it if he was completely honest with himself. The last training hadn’t gone so well, and his teammates definitely weren’t being the friendliest to him, well except Louis and some guy he believed that went by the name Niall who he had heard standing up for him just before he had entered the room. Louis had even followed him on Instagram yesterday. He had to admit that he was a bit ashamed that Louis had probably seen all of his nonsense picture and probably thought he was a weirdo now, but he still followed back nevertheless. Of course he had checked out Louis profile, you can’t blame him for doing it, Louis was looking proper fit on all of his pictures. If only he was actually into guys, like Harry himself. He had found out at a young age that he was a little more interested in boys than he was supposed to be. He hadn’t meant to hide it at first, but the football world wasn’t the most accepting of people who were different. And when he eventually started playing professionally, his agent agreed that keeping his sexuality private for now was the best idea, and that is the story how he ended up in the closet. But he wasn’t planning on being in there forever, he had a plan. If he ever, surprisingly, ended up in a serious relationship with someone, he wouldn’t want to hide it. So a serious relationship would eventually mean him coming out of the closet, but the last couple of years had proven that it was quite impossible to find someone to date whilst you’re in the closet, since the guys weren’t supposed to _know_ that you’re into them.

\---

They were playing a little practice game and Harry and Louis were in the same team, making Harry try to be at his best even more than normal in order to impress Louis. Harry was playing as the left winger of their team, whilst Louis was the right winger, so two of them had to play together. Passing the ball to his teammates however, had never been one of Harry’s best skills, which was starting to get on the nerves of his teammates, including Louis’.

Louis passed the ball to Harry and started sprinting closer to the goal. He saw Harry dribbling in the distance, playing around his opponents and getting closer to the goal. Louis started shouting Harry’s name and waving his arms around, trying to alert Harry that he could pass the ball to him and that he was in front of the goal. However, that didn’t happen, because a few seconds later Louis saw the ball hit the net of the back of the goal, Harry had scored the goal all by himself. Louis felt a bit gutted that Harry didn’t think of passing the ball to him, since as far as he knows football is a team sport and as the left and right winger of the team they are supposed to work together and not play egotistically as individuals. Louis couldn’t really be mad at him though, because at least Harry had scored the goals and that’s more than some of his teammates are capable of.

Louis jogged over to their side of the field again, still a little bit of disappointment lingering, but that quickly disappeared as he looked at Harry who was smiling proudly at himself. Louis was the selfish one in this case, not Harry, Harry just wanted to prove his worth to the team. Who was Louis, an already established player in the team, to judge him for that, Louis had once been in the exact position as Harry was in right now and he would have done the exact same if he had possessed Harry’s amazing skills back then. So he gave Harry a pat on the back with a small “Good job mate” when he passed by him and smiled to himself at the sign of Harry’s smile growing bigger for a fraction of a second.

\---

They had had finished the practice game and several players were already getting changed in the changing rooms whilst Harry was once again held back by the trainer for some comments and compliments. Harry’s egoistical, but in Louis’ opinion amazing, playing of the past to training was, of course, the topic of discussion in the changing room. The annoyance of a few players, especially Aiden, was rising with every minute that Harry was being held back by the trainer, because that meant that Harry was getting the attention that they weren’t and in their opinions that was highly unfair.

Harry walked into the changing room, not sure if he should be expecting to receive praises for his performance during the practice game, or if he should be expecting some criticism again like last practice. He knows he probably shouldn’t have played so egotistical, and probably should have passed the ball to Louis more to give him a change to score, because he definitely didn’t want to steal Louis’ thunder, but he just wanted to let the team see what he could do and that he deserved to be in this team as much as everybody else.

“Look, it’s our one-man show from Liverpool.” Aiden snickered whilst he was tying his shoe laces. Okay, criticism it was going to be, Harry duly noted when he went to sit down on one of the benches. He really didn’t know what he was going to do if the hostility and hatred that he was getting thrown towards him would be continuing for the complete duration of the season.

“Very funny.” Harry muttered to himself, trying not to let Aiden notice that he was getting to him, because Harry didn’t want to give Aiden that satisfaction.

“Perhaps Liverpool was different, but here in Manchester football is a team sport.” Aiden said trying to act all smart and mighty. Harry understood the fact that both of them were left winger’s and that Aiden was afraid that Harry was going to be taking his place in the starting line-up, but was it really necessary to be this mean to him constantly?

“I play how I play” Harry answered curtly, not wanting to cower down and show that Aiden’s comments were actually getting to him. He didn’t want to come off as snobbish and arrogant, but that was just the protective barrier that he wanted to display to people. There was no room for weakness in the professional football world.

“Hey, you know what? You should try tennis.” One of Aiden’s equally obnoxious mates remarked. Causing a few laughs to be scattered around the room.

Louis had had enough of it. “Mates, chill! He scored the goal.” He said with a raised voice, defending Harry. Causing Harry to look at him again with a small smile playing on his lips and Louis received a small nod from Harry as a ‘thank you’ gesture. At least someone on the team liked him and was willing enough to stand up for him. None of his teammates said anything after Louis small outburst, they respected Louis and frankly were also a little bit scared of him, he was the captain of the team after all.

Louis’ mood had definitely decreased after the mess of the current changing room argument, so he tossed all his stuff in his bag and quickly grabbed his coat before storming outside to cool down. He had a bus to catch anyways.

\---

Louis walked into the bus and sat down in one of those individual seats so there was no possibility for anyone to sit next to him, because he really didn’t feel like having someone sitting next to him with the mood he was in right now. He should really get a car.

Thanks to being held back by the trainer for a few minutes, Harry was now running to catch his bus. He was wondering to himself if this day could possibly get any worse. Firstly, his whole team apparently hated him, had he really moved to Manchester for this? Maybe he should just transfer to another club. No that wasn’t possible the transfer window of this season had already been closed, so basically he was utterly and truly fucked, great. Maybe he should just quit professional football completely. Secondly, he was probably going to miss his bus home and he would have to wait another 30 minutes in the rain on the next bus, once again, great.

He saw that the bus driver was just about to close the doors when he was 4 meters removed from the bus, but luck seemed to be on Harry’s side for once as he caught the attention of the bus driver who opened the doors again specially for him. Apparently there are still some nice people left in Manchester. He jumped into the bus and thanked the bus driver thoroughly before making his way through the bus looking for a place to sit. His eyes caught sight of a familiar feathered haired boy, it was Louis. Harry smiled to himself and walked over to the seat that was free in front of Louis. He sat down and turned his body around in order to face Louis, who was clearly pretending to be busy on his phone so he didn’t have to talk to the younger boy. Harry was starting to regret his decision to sit so close to Louis, maybe he had read Louis’ signals all wrong and he actually didn’t like Harry at all. Maybe he was just trying to act like a good team captain would.

“Thanks for earlier. They’re real jerks” Harry said, trying to make conversation and also just because he really wanted to thank Louis for sticking up for him.

“Well, what do you expect when you hog the ball like that?” Louis remarked, still feeling quite grumpy due to earlier, causing Harry to feel even shittier.

“They slagged me off from the start. I had to show them what I could actually do, I just wanted to earn their respect.” Harry said, trying to make Louis understand where he was coming from. “Everybody does their own thing anyway.” He added quickly.

“Great philosophy.” Louis said sarcastically, you see this is why nobody should sit in close proximity to him when he’s grumpy. Harry is probably going to think that he was a proper dickhead like the rest of the team. So he added a quick smile in order to convey to Harry that he was indeed not a proper dick.

“Come on, you do it as well. All that matters is if you’re any good.” Harry tried to reason, because in his experience that is how the professional football world worked. If you’re good, you receive the special treatment, especially from the coach and trainer.

“I see. “ Louis answered back, starting to see where Harry was coming from.

“Don’t worry, I think you’re really good.” Harry added, not wanting Louis to understand him the wrong way and also because he really thought that Louis was amazing and people should tell him that more often. “You’re a prospect for a reason” Harry was really just starting to ramble at this point, someone please make him shut up. He looked to the left of Louis and his eyes caught sight of a girl looking eerily similar to Amy Winehouse style wise, but in a funny way.

“Hey. Look, Amy Winehouse is alive.” Harry said with a nod in the direction of the girl, trying to lighten the conversation before he made an even a bigger fool of himself.

Louis turned around and there was indeed a girl that was looking similar to Amy Winehouse, but in a cheap copycat way. he turned back at Harry, laughing, and Harry returned the gesture. Leaving them both laughing at each other quietly. At least the mood was lightened now, Harry thought to himself.

They joked around for a few more minutes before Louis broke the mood by continuing the conversation about football.

“How do you think we’ll play? Like attacking wise?” Louis asked, actually being interested in what Harry had to say.

“After today, it’s pretty clear. The coach will play with two strikers. The two of us” Harry said confidently, he’s sure Louis and him would make a great couple, both off and on the field. “That’s why Aiden is so pissed of constantly.” Harry added.

“We’ll see.” Louis hoped Harry’s prediction were true, because he would really like to play together with him during the games.

“Wanna bet?” Harry asked cockily offering his hand for Louis to shake, he did not know where this sudden flare-up of confidence was coming from, but he really hoped that he was right.

“If you pass me the ball a bit more, it might just work.” Louis joked with a big smile on his face and he shook Harry’s hand that was quite bit in contrast to his. They held on for a few seconds, maybe a few too long, before releasing each other’s hand.

_Maybe this day wasn’t so bad after all_.


	4. finding a home

Louis was cycling as fast as he possible could to his manager’s office, which was basically at his own house with his dad being his manager. Training ended 20 minutes later than normally and he was running late for his meeting with his new potential agent. Him and Harry’s conversation during the bus ride had really felt like the start of a possible friendship, the lad was starting to grow on him. Harry really wasn’t as arrogant and unbothered by everything as he portrayed himself to be when he was in the presence of their team. Louis was starting to get where Harry was coming from when he explained the reasons for his behaviour during the trainings, he was just trying to prove himself and earn the respect of the team, like any normal person would want to. Louis was definitely planning to act kinder towards Harry during the trainings and to defend him during the gossiping that was currently going on in the changing room, of which Harry’s arrival had been the hot topic lately. As captain of the team, Louis was sure that if he’d set the right example, his team would follow.

His dad and agent where chatting inside waiting for Louis to arrive, this was the perfect moment for them to discuss some things without Louis noisy self being here.

“And then there was the thing with his knee.” Louis’ new agent continued, discussing Louis injuries from his earlier years.

“There he is.” Louis’ dad announced when he saw Louis arriving through the window as he was parking his bike .

“It was a growth disturbance, that’s over now. His body is functioning perfectly right now.” Louis dad continued before Louis entered through the backdoor of the garage.

“Sorry, practice ran long, so I missed the bus.” Louis apologised before softly closing the door behind him. He walked over to where Mr. Thompson, his supposedly potential new agent, was sitting and he exchanged a greeting with him before shaking his hand firmly.

Louis grabbed a chair and sat down at the table where his dad and Mr. Thompson were sitting.

“Let’s move on to another important topic. Any sponsors yet?” Louis’ dad asked, continuing the conversation with Mr. Thompson that had halted for a few seconds as Louis had entered the room.

“Only product sponsors so far, for the shoes” Mr. Thompson stated. “For right now, we’ve got to focus on making sure he gets into the first team.” He continued, whilst Louis was listening closely. Making the first team was all he had ever dreamed of since he first arrived at Manchester united when he was 19.

“But that’s given, right?” Louis’ wondered aloud, and Louis shifted his attention to his dead. Louis himself was actually starting to doubt if it was really a given already. If they really planned for him to be moved to the first team after this season, why did they transfer another striker to their team that clearly had better potential than him?

“They’ve got their eye on him, but he’s not the only one.” Mr. Thompson replied, confirming Louis’ doubts. “Louis needs to keep up his performance, however I’m optimistic. If not, I wouldn’t be here right now believe me”

\---

Louis was sitting by himself in the bus waiting for Jane, his best friend since he was 7, to join him at the next bus stop. He was still debating in his head whether his new agent was the right fit for him. Personally, he had found him quite old, and traditional views frequently came along with that age. Which would probably not turn out great for Louis if he really did turn out to be into guys, which of course he still wasn’t sure of , but maybe, just maybe, the fact that a certain tall curly headed boy had crossed his mind whilst he was jerking of in the privacy in his own room should be seen a sign that he might possibly be into guys just a little bit.

He was broken out of his thoughts by Jane’s voice greeting him. He stood up to greet her back with a hug and a quick peck on her cheek. They had always been quite close since they were kids, however it had always been in a strictly platonic way. Although many would argue that that was impossible because of how close him and Jane were, which was often mistakenly perceived as romantic by many, but their close friend knew the truth, so they weren’t really that bothered by it.

“I didn’t think you’d come.” Jane noted when she went to sit down next to Louis.

“Neither did I.” Louis said back. His hectic schedule caused by his football career frequently conflicted with his personal life causing him to not see his friends as much as he would like to. “I’ve just got to go back earlier today luckily.” He reasoned.

“The others will probably think it’s so nice that I can finally make one of our meeting ups.” Louis continued, shooting Jane a quick wink.

“We’ll see. Anyway, they are really proud of you, you know?” Jane said whilst beaming at him, before she teasingly bumped his shoulder a few times.

“yeah right.” Louis said, laughing at the thought, he was still the same old Lewis to his friends. “and you? How’s life been for you the past couple of days?” truly interested in her life, which is way more normal than his. Sometimes he craved for a life like hers. Not having to deal with the competitiveness of the football world. Not having to mind every single step he takes. He would love to have more time with his friends and family, and to just pig out on the couch sometimes instead of having to mind his diet and exercise every single day.

“I’m okay I guess.” Jane said, voice turning a little bit less excited and happy than before, looking down at her lap for a few seconds before meeting Louis’ eyes.

“Peter?” Louis asked and Jane nodded. Peter had been Jane’s boyfriend for the last couple of months, however the relationship had turned a bit tense the last couple of weeks.

“It’s over” Jane said sadly “What, really?” Louis asked, a little surprised since he had truly believed that the two of them could overcome their differences, but apparently not. “I should have done it a long time ago, I just didn’t have to guts.” Jane shrugged before leaning her head on Louis shoulder, at which Louis slung an arm around her shoulder.

“What about you?” Jane asked him whilst raising her brows suggestively a few times. “What?” Louis asked back, trying to act like he did not know what she was talking about, at which jane raised her eyebrows again, trying to evoke a reaction out of him. In her opinion it was time for Louis’ love life to become a little more active that it had been the couple past years. She was sure that he had only had dates with his own right hand the past year. “Stop it!” Louis said, jokingly before hugging her a little bit tighter to his side in an effort to make her shut up.

\---

They entered a dark, but festively decorated bar. Where they were greeted, by a few people that Louis hadn’t seen in ages. Louis was receiving hug after hug by multiple people, who noted the exact same as he had thought just a few seconds ago.

“I read about you in the newspaper. Looks like you’re a real pro now.” Some guy that Louis could not remember ever having seen yelled in his ear, trying to be heard over the loud noises of the bar.

“I’m still not in the first team, but we’ll see at the end of the season.” Louise semi-yelled back in the guy’s ear. “And you?” Louis asked, trying to act like he was interested, which he really wasn’t to be quite frank. he just wanted to go join Jane and his friends and try to have a good time and enjoy one of his rare nights off.

“I just finished my bachelor in Business. I’m taking a gap year right now.” The guy answered back, happy that Louis was seemingly interested. This was definitely a story he couldn’t wait to tell when Louis’ career had reached its peak in a few years. 

One of Louis’ friends came up to greet him with a hug, saving him from his conversation with the stranger that he was desperately trying to escape from. Some people were singing karaoke, which was not pleasing his ears at all. He had to admit that he probably couldn’t do much better himself, but that still didn’t make it nice to listen to the strongly off-key sung lyrics that were bouncing of the walls of the bar.

He was in a conversation with one of his friends when he heard an announcement in the background.

“And now. By popular demand, one for Jane and Louis.” Someone announced from the stage. Louis was definitely not keen of the idea of going to sing karaoke on the stage, so he tried to act like he hadn’t heard his name being called.

“Get up there!” His friend said excitedly whilst Louis tried to shake him off with a no followed by a load groan. However, it was with to no avail because Jane was already yelling his name from the stage. He tried to disappear from the crowd, but people had started to push him forward and chant his name, so his struggling had proven useless as he found himself on the stage within seconds.

_Tonight's the night we're gonna make it happen  
_ _Tonight we'll put all other things aside  
_ _Give in this time and show me some affection  
_ _We're going for those pleasures in the night_

Jane had started the intro looking really pleased with herself and trying to make Louis dance with her, who was shooting her deadly glares before continuing with the next part of the song.

_I want to love you, feel you  
_ _Wrap myself around you  
_ _I want to squeeze you, please you  
_ _I just can't get enough  
_ _And if you move real slow I'll let it go_

_I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it  
_ _I'm about to lose control and I think I like it  
_ _I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it_  
_And I know, I know, I know, I know  
_ _I know I want you_

Louis had decided to stop being a buzzkill during the chorus and sang and danced along with an excitingly hopping around Jane. He pointed at the crowd during the “_I know I want you_”, who cheered loudly at him because of it. He had to admit that karaoke might not actually be as bad as he had thought, but he would definitely not admit it if somebody asked though.

\---

It was the next morning and Louis was walking into the diner room, greeted by his dad with a short “Morning.” who was standing behind the stove making breakfast.

“well, how was it with your friends?” his dad asked him. He had been sceptical about Louis’ night of going out when Louis had mentioned a week before. His dad believed that he should only be focussing on getting in the first team, and there was no place for going out and hanging with friends in that plan apparently.

“Loads of fun. Jane and I sang karaoke.” Louis answered with a little chuckle, memories of yesterday hitting him. It had turned out to be loads of fun and it was by far the most fun night he had had in a couple of months. He wished he could do it more though.

“What did you say?” Louis dad asked surprised. Louis liked the fact that he was finally having a normal conversation with his dad that was not about football for once. Don’t get him wrong he loves his dad, but having your dad as your manager is not always nice. Sometimes you just want your dad to be just that, your dad.

His dad sat down at the table, placing a bowl of porridge at both his and Louis’ place.

“I’ve been thinking about the Styles guy.” His dad started and Louis looked at him, rolling his eyes slightly. There his dad goes with the football talk again…

“Your coach said it’d be best to seek interaction with him, but I’m not sure.” His dad said whilst pouring himself a cup of coffee. Louis was thinking about what his dad had just said. Why would it be bad for him to seek interaction with Harry? Wouldn’t it only benefit their relationship in, and outside, of the field? He couldn’t see why that would be a bad idea.

“Why didn’t they just put him in the first team? Perhaps it’s not such a sure thing after all.” Louis’ dad wondered aloud, annoying Louis slightly. Harry was a great player and he deserved to be in the first team just as much as Louis and all his other teammates did. He didn’t get why everyone had to be so negative about Harry in the first place, he was a nice guy. Louis just continued chewing, not feeling like answering this ridiculousness of his dad.

“If you play with him, show your stuff. Defend your position. You worked long and hard for it. That’s how I see it, anyway” His dad continued further. Apparently his dad really didn’t know when to stop, it was too early for this.

\---

“You know what’s at stake. It’s the first game of the season.” The coach started, looking around the changing room to glance at his players who were slowly getting ready for the game with a determined look painted on their faces.

“Our goal for this season is promotion and today we take the first step. And it’s not going to be a walk in the park. We’ve got to take on every challenge and hold our ground. Press for the ball. Aggressive pressing for the first 15 minutes. Don’t let them in the game. Guard closely, move with the ball, close off passing lanes.” The coach instructed the team with a raised voice.

Harry’s mind wandered off whilst the coach continued his motivating speech. It was his first game at his new club, and even though he wasn’t even in the starting line-up of the game and he might not even play for a single minute during the game, he was still a nervous wreck. He didn’t want to mess up in the case he would have to play. He didn’t want to give his teammates any reason to hate him more than they already did at the moment. He was looking at Louis who was concentrating on the speech of the coach with a determined look on his face, not looking nervous at all, which Harry admired. Harry scanned over his body, noticing how handsome he actually was in his football gear.

“We’re playing with two strikers, so look for them. You two up front, Aiden and Louis. No ego crap.” Harry’s concentration snapped back to the speech at the sound of Louis’ name.

“Play together. Look for space, and you’ll get your shot.” Louis looked at Aiden who was looking at the coach seemingly bored, probably waiting for the speech to finally end so he could start whining again like he always did. Louis was certain about himself to not pull any ego crap during the game, but he couldn’t say the same for Aiden. Aiden had always played quite egotistically, never quite passing the ball to his team mates until the absolute last second were it was his last resort. Which is why Louis had found it so ironic when Aiden had grilled Harry about his supposedly selfish way of playing. His glance shifted to Harry who was looking at the coach, his full attention on the speech, he admired that of Harry since he was one of the only ones that actually had been listening to what the coach was saying. Louis was quite surprised that Harry wasn’t in the starting line up since in his opinion, Harry had been performing way better during the training than Aiden had. However, he also agreed with the fact that it would be Harry’s first game for the club and putting him on the field immediately would have been a risky move for the first game of the season. Harry would be able to analyse the game and see how the team would play together in the dug-out and use that information in case he would have to substitute for Aiden during the game. Harry looked quite nervous, which of course made sense as it was his first game and the team hadn’t been welcoming Harry that warmly into their team since he had arrived. Louis was trying to figure out how to calm those nerves. It was his responsibility as a captain to make everyone feel and perform the best as they could of course.

The coach ended his speech with a “Captain, huddle.” and the whole team stood up from where they were sitting on the benches of the changing room. Everyone threw their arms around the shoulders of the teammates next to them and they formed a big circle, slightly squatting through their knees with a determined look painted on all of their faces.

“The first game is crucial to make our mark in the competition. That means everyone. No single player is more important than the team. We’re going to have fun and show them what we’ve got! Tomlinson.” The coach started of the huddle, saying Louis’ name to indicate that it was Louis’ turn now to end with his closing remarks so they could go to the field to get warmed up.

“You heard him. Have fun. Let’s do this lads! On three.” Louis said, voice as loud and clear as possible. Looking around the circle, stopping his glance on Harry’s face a few milliseconds longer than on the other guys while giving him a small smile which was returned by the younger lad.

Louis counted to 3, more like screamed, and the team let out a loud “Manchester United” before letting go of each other and clapping loudly whilst walking out of the changing room to head to the field to warm up.

\---

There were only 7 minutes left on the clock and the scoreboard was showing a 0-1 for their opponent. Harry was sitting in the dug-out with a few of his teammates as substitutes waiting for their chance to play, annoyed at the fact that they were not playing themselves, and thus unable to do anything about the current score. They were all left groaning and disappointed as Aiden missed yet another chance to score. Harry was looking desperately at the coach hoping to substitute for Aiden, whose playing was, to bluntly say, pathetic at the moment. Aiden had missed multiple chances to score, shooting the ball not even close to the goal, and losing the ball to his opponent all the time due to his egotistical playing. Louis was clearly aggregated by Aiden’s way of playing, and had actually raised his voice at Aiden multiple times since the second part of the game had kicked off. Which was unusual for Louis.

“Go, Harry, Damian! Go and warm up!” the coach yelled in the direction of the dug-out where Harry and the other substitutes were not so patiently waiting. Harry shot up from his seat as fast as humanly possible. He put on a bright yellow cover-up over his shirt before quickly jogging parallel to the side-line.

The coach asked the referee for a substitution at which the referee blew his whistle to stop the game for a few seconds.

“Aiden come here!” the coach screamed, clearly aggregated like Louis, before turning to Harry and waving with his hand that is was time for Harry to play, who went to take off the bright yellow cover-up before jogging over to where the coach was standing to stand next to him. “Be brave, get in there!” the coach gave Harry his final encouragement before pushing him on to the field. Harry tried to control the nerves as best as he could, giving Louis a look who he found was smiling at him even though he had looked extremely cranky a few seconds before. Louis’ look made some of Harry’s nerves melt away as he smiled back at the older lad. Louis nodded at Harry as a sort of “let’s do this” and Harry gave him a curt nod back before sprinting forward as the ball had started to move across the field.

Harry received the ball from one of his teammates and he started to dribble the ball as far as he could, nearing the goal. He could see Louis sprinting alongside him, he was in the perfect position to score. Louis yelled Harry’s name to communicate that he was free for the pass and Harry looked up for a second before passing the ball to Louis as precise as he could manage at the moment. Louis received the ball just 3 meters before the goal and he gave it a strong kick in the direction of the left corner. The ball flew past the fingertips of the goalie and it hit the net of the back of the goal. They had actually scored, Harry couldn’t contain his happiness and he ran up to Louis before jumping on him to give him a hug out of excitement. Louis return the hug tightly before jogging back to their side of the field where he and Harry were welcomed by their teammates with several hugs and high fives. A few of his teammates where smiling warmly at Harry as they were giving him their congratulations and Harry couldn’t be happier, it felt like the start of him finally belonging in the team.

The referee whistled 2 minutes later, signalling that the game had come to an end and they went up to their opponents to shake their hands, thanking them for the game, before going back to the changing rooms collectively.

The coached called Louis back as he was walking through the hallway to the changing room. Louis took a few steps back and joined his coach where he was standing. He assumed that he was going to be lectured about the behaviour of his father, who had been yelling a tad too much.

“Hey, sorry.” Louis said, looking apolitically at his coach.

“Why?” His coach asked surprised, not being able to think of a reason why Louis was apologising as he had played at his best. Saving them from a possible loss.

“about my father…” Louis started, but was interrupted by his coach. “OH, don’t worry, I’m used to it.” The statement was followed by a small chuckle from his coach, reassuring Louis in the process.

“We’ve got a player flat for you.” His coach announced and Louis perked up at that. He had been wanting to move out from his parents’ place to a player flat for a few months now, however there had been none available at that time due to maintenance.

“Really?”

“But you’d be living together with Harry.” His coach followed. Oh.. well… there it was then, the supposed catch of the agreement. He was going to be living with ‘the new one’. However, Louis didn’t really mind. Harry was a nice lad, he was sure they would get along just great and that it would strengthen their bond both off and on the field.

_He was going to live together with Harry, what could possibly happen? _


	5. the spaces that we fill

“But the competition has just begun. Can’t it wait?” Louis’ dad asked Louis’ agent when he had been informed about the proposition that the coach had given to Louis just a few minutes prior. Louis immediately had agreed with the coach about him moving into a player’s flat, having wanted to move out of his parents’ place forever, and the players’ flat had been the perfect opportunity for him to do so. Of course, Louis did not mind having to live together with Harry in exchange at all, seeing as he had learned to get to know the lad a bit better the past couple of weeks and he hadn’t seemed half as bad if Louis was completely honest with himself, he could definitely see them having a great friendship in the future.

“It’ll just distract him. Moving and everything.” His dad tried to reason against his soon moving into a place of his own “and with Styles, of all players? Are you serious?” he objected even more, seemingly not keen of the idea of Harry being the one with whom Louis would be living together in the future, probably intimidated by the threat that Harry’s blossoming skills were posing in his eyes to his own son’s chance of getting into the first team.

“What do you think?” Louis’ dad turned to his agent, trying to get an opinion out of him after just having rambled for a full five minutes about how bad of an idea Louis moving out was. However, instead of answering the question that his dad had posed, his agent turned to him and asked Louis himself what his opinion on the matter was instead of having his dad put words in his mouth the entire time. Louis was happy that finally someone was asking for his opinion instead of constantly having people talk over his own head like he was some incompetent child, he was an adult for god’s sake. 

“Coach says it’ll save half a day’s commute each week.” He answered with a small shrug trying to make his dad see sense in why moving into the players’ flat was a great opportunity for him.

“But you’ve got everything at home.” His dad stubbornly reasoned back whilst crossing his arms like a little child being denied candy by his parents, not accepting Louis’ reasons for moving out. Louis didn’t see why it was such a big deal, he had long surpassed the age of 18 and was capable of making his own decisions.

“I don’t think it’s their only reason.” His agent intervened, Louis now desperately thanking him with his eyes. Even though, those same cerulean eyes were filled with wonder, asking himself what possibly could be the underlying motive of the coach’s decision to have Harry and Louis live together.

“What do you mean?” His dad asked, his voice filled with curiousness, voicing Louis’ own inner thoughts. 

“Perhaps they’ve got plans for them. Perhaps it’s so the get to know each other better, get acquainted or something similar to that. You know what I mean?” His agent answered, having the full attention of both Louis and his dad on him, having them hanging on every sentence that had been leaving his mouth it the last few seconds that had passed by.

“Perhaps they want to promote Harry and Louis together, since they are both strikers, and seeing how the game went they seem to be already the dream time as strikers together.” The agent followed up, referring to the last few minutes of the game where Louis and Harry had played together, even scoring a goal that saved the team from their first loss that had seemed inevitable in the biggest part of the game.

“Maybe they’ve changed their mind about only having one new striker in the first team. Just think it over, will you?” His agent concluded his string of reasonings, all of them making perfect to Louis, and maybe not completely in the mind of his dad who was standing next to him with one of his eyebrows raised, seemingly not liking the very idea that had just left the mouth of the agent.

“I think you should seriously consider it Louis, I think it is a great idea, even if not for the reason to get better acquainted with your teammate, you should always consider it to learn to be more independent and self efficient.” Mr. Thompson said, giving him heartfelt advice. To be honest, Louis agreed with the man, it was a great opportunity to become more self-sufficient as a person, and let’s just say that he also did not mind getting to know the mysterious Harry Styles a bit better.

\---

Harry had received the news that he would be moving into the players’ flat together with Louis Tomlinson just an hour after the game. And here he was, just a single day later, standing in the middle of his own bedroom of the apartment which he now apparently shared with Louis, moving all the boxes with his fairly limited amount of personal belongings into his own bedroom. He had been a bit uncertain when the coach proposed the idea of living together with Louis to him. Don’t get him wrong it’s not that he doesn’t like the slightly older lad, however that was exactly the reason why he was hesitant about the idea of living together Louis as he felt his stomach doing this weird jittery thing whenever his eyes stumbled upon Louis’. He just didn’t like the idea of his harmless crush possibly evolving into something more as he would have to be with Louis almost every day, the idea of the chance of seeing Louis emerging from a steamy bathroom with a towel tied around his waist was already driving him crazy.

He was standing on his tiptoes trying to hang up the painting that Gemma had gifted him just before his department to Manchester, wanting to make the pre-furnished room with the most basic furniture one could imagine feel a bit more like home. He had only been in Manchester for a short 2 months, but he already missed his mother and his sister like crazy. Of course he also missed his friends from back home, however communicating with them over the phone had been satisfactory enough for him. He had always been extremely close to his mother and Gemma and he was used to having them with him wherever he went, always being able to turn to them and tell them about his day or having random conversations in the kitchen until it was midnight. Calling them top update them on everything that had happened in his life maybe at max 3 times a week just wasn’t enough for him and he couldn’t wait until he could finally see them again in person, he was hoping that they would visit soon or that he would be able to go back home for a few days but his busy schedule was definitely retaining him from doing so as of right now.

Harry was deep in his own thoughts when he heard the sounds of the lock opening, his head quickly shot up trying to see who the intruder was but he was met with the sight of Louis who was carrying two suitcases of a considerable size that must be containing all the things he was planning to move into their apartment. This was the first time Harry had seen him completely by himself with normal day to day clothing clinging to his narrow frame, it felt different seeing Louis outside of football. Louis gave him a quick wave paired with a big smile that made his eyes crinkle at which the ever growing amount of butterflies fluttered their wings in his stomach. He tried to detain himself, telling Louis a quick mumbled “hello” before going back to focus on the painting that he had been hanging up carefully.

\---

The two of them placed their plates down on opposite sides of their extremely small dining table, having danced around each other in their equally small kitchen area whilst trying to make their dinner. There had barely been any space to move around each other in the kitchen, causing them to bump into each other at every step that they took, not that one of them really minded that. Harry went to sit down on his side of the dining table ready to tuck into his salad just as Louis reached inside the fridge presumably to get himself a drink to go with his dinner.

Louis got a 0,5 litre can of beer out of the fridge and went to pour it in both his and Harry’s glass when he sat down, however when he finally went to pour some beer into Harry’s glass after his own had already been filled Harry made a small noise of refusement whilst quickly shaking his head, thinking about the strict diet regime they both were on during the football season.

“Come on, it’s our first day here.” Louis said with a small playful smile on his lips, shooting Harry a quick wink in order to try and convince him to just let go a little and to have one glass of beer with him in order to celebrate moving in together. It was not like they were going to get drunk or something, he himself saw no harm in sinning in small portions.

Harry gave him a shy nod in return, letting himself be convinced by Louis words, wanting to please him. Louis quickly poured the beer into Harry’s glass before raising his own glass in order to initiate a toast “To our new flat.” he said with a big smile on his face, clinking his glass against Harry’s causing the younger lad to warmly smile back at him.

Later that nights as both of them were getting ready for bed. Harry was just finishing up his, in his sister’s opinion way too, elaborate skincare routine that he always did before he went to bed whilst standing in only his boxers when the door suddenly opened without a warning as an equally shirtless Louis with a towel swung over his shoulder entered the bathroom without knocking, startling Harry slightly at the sudden interruption. Harry looked away from the mirror just in time to see Louis’ eyes scan over his body. Well he had to admit that that was definitely not what he was expecting Louis to do in this situation that should have been way more awkward than it was feeling right now, he was expecting Louis to mutter a quick excuse before shutting the door as quickly as he could or something in accordance to that.

“Oh, sorry.” Louis said when he had finished scanning over Harry’s shirtless upper body, his tone indicating that he was everything but sorry about the fact that he had just walked into the bathroom unannounced only to be met by a shirtless Harry.

“Come in, I’ve just finished.” Harry said when he had finished returning the favour by scanning Louis’ body in return. He went to go past Louis to walk out of the bathroom but just when he took a step forward to the right side, Louis body decided to move to that side as well in order to make room to let Harry through the narrow doorframe, making the two of them do an awkward shuffle for a few seconds before Harry was finally able to get out of the bathroom. They both let out a small chuckle and Harry threw Louis one last look over his shoulder, trying to memorise the way that Louis’ body looked, before heading to his own room.

Louis was left alone in the bathroom for the first time since he had moved in and he saw that most of the cabinet space had been occupied by Harry’s extensive number of products. He reached for a cologne, before lifting it to his nose and sniffing it, this must be the one that Harry wore daily as it smelt exactly like the air that trailed behind Harry to fill the room for a second whenever he entered the changing room. It definitely smelled nice.


	6. revelations

They were casually leaning against one of the tables outside of the small café close to their flat after an especially excruciating training session that had them doing sit ups for half an hour, which was a ridiculous amount of time if you asked Louis but that was beside the point. They were standing next to each other, barely an inch between their shoulders that were almost pressed together as they chatted. Having lived together for two weeks by now, him and Harry had become quick friends, quickly getting familiarized with each other’s routines. Making the amount of shirtless run ins decrease extensively, much to Harry’s disappointment. Their relationship, read friendship, had blossomed at the amount of time that they had spent cooped up together in the small and cramped space of what they now get to call their home. The change in their demeanour towards each other had even become noticeable to their coach and trainer as the two of them spent most of their trainings with each other or at least trying to be in close enough proximity to each other in order to whisper some bullshit jokes in each other’s ear whenever possible. Their growing friendship which had definitely improved their teamwork much to their coach’s delight. During their half an hour of sit ups this training they had laid their mats next to each other, joking every few sit ups in order to try and lighten each other’s moods. Harry had to admit that he definitely felt some pressure to do his exercises properly under Louis’ watchful eyes, he wanted to impress the older man.

They were just chatting about some of the transfers that had taken place during the last transfer window, one of which included one of the strikers of Manchester United transferring to Juventus for no less than 4 million, which resulted in a discussion about the absolute absurdity of the transfer sums paid for some big players, even though both of them agreed that they wouldn’t mind having that amount of money on their bank accounts. Louis was staring fondly at Harry who was being so passionate about the subject, this lad was certainly something else.

“You know what that means right?” Harry said, enthusiasm clear in his voice whilst he looked at Louis beamingly with his body completely turned towards Louis. His happiness was so contagious, Louis couldn’t help it but feel automatically happy when he was in the presence of Harry. He couldn’t help it, Harry was just the kind of person that immediately lit up the room whenever he entered.

“It clears the way for us!” Harry said, his voice booming and even more happier than it had been prior. Harry had lifted his hand and had started tapping Louis arm excitingly, like he was trying to carry over the excitement he was feeling through his fingertips.

“For you, you mean.” Louis answered back with a chuckle whilst in a jokingly matter shoving his elbow in Harry’s stomach who just giggled in response. He actually giggled, Louis shouldn’t feel as endeared by that as he was right now, they were just friends for god’s sake. He didn’t like Harry, he couldn’t, he’s never had feelings for a guy before so being into Harry would be impossible. He must be just feeling this way since he’s not used to having any real regular friends next to Jane, he’s been spending most of his free time with Harry so that must be it, it was a perfectly reasonable explanation for how he was feeling right now.

“Jane!” Louis said enthusiastically whilst he waved at Jane who was now approaching them, making Harry break his gaze that had been directed at louis immediately. Harry turned his body towards the direction Jane was coming from, hoping to seem more friendly and approachable that way.

“Jane, Harry. Harry, Jane.” Louis introduced them to each other whilst gesturing wildly between the two of them. Harry lifted his hand to give Jane a quick handshake whilst uttering a small “Nice to meet you.” in the warmest way possible, hoping to make a good first impression on her.

Jane continued on into Louis direction and gave him a quick peck on his cheek and a tight hug at which Harry’s guts stirred slightly, suddenly doubting if this girl really was just friends with Louis or that he had been reading the current situation over the past few weeks completely wrong. Maybe Louis wasn’t even into guys at all like he had hoped, maybe he really was just into girls and Jane was his girlfriend. The two of them exchanged greetings and a few sentences about their current wellbeing’s all during which Harry’s head was getting filled with more and more doubts.

Louis interrupted his thoughts with a quick “want to sit down?” at which Harry quickly nodded, hoping to shake his thoughts away in the process. He grabbed his beer and went to sit down opposite of Louis and Jane who had already sat down next to each other, raising his suspicions even more.

“You’re just like he described.” Jane said suddenly, surprising Harry with the unexpected statement. Her voice was filled with mirth, clearly very happy with herself at the moment, whilst Louis was glaring at her from the side, shooting daggers at her with his eyes.

“Oh yeah? “ Harry answered, completely surprised by the fact that Louis had apparently talked about him to his best friend or maybe even possibly his girlfriend, it was still undetermined what they were. He was happy that Louis felt comfortable enough around him to talk about him in what he was assuming in a positive way as Jane’s tone was anything to go by.

“How did he describe me?” Harry asked intrigued, he really wanted to know what Louis had been telling about him, he really hoped that it had only been positive things, because he didn’t want Louis to think anything bad of him. He had been on his best behaviour around the house, trying to be as nice as possible and always doing the dishes and the cleaning up because he knew how much Louis hated that, and well Harry didn’t really mind doing it if it meant that it would be done properly.

“Just tell us how it went.” Louis quickly interrupted Jane, shooting daggers at her through his eyes. She was already being way too suggestive and honest with Harry, even though she had only been here for a couple minutes, and to be honest the things he told her about Harry were completely harmless. There was no reasons for her to be so suggestive and jokingly about it. He had simply told her about how good of a roommate Harry was being, he was clean, he wasn’t too loud and he was fun to be around, that was literally all. He wasn’t seeing any reasons for her behaviour, it’s not like he told her he found Harry attractive or something like that. He hadn’t even told her about their shirtless run in. He saw Harry looking at him with a smirk playing on his lips from the corner of his eyes, the boy was clearly amused by the current happenings.

“Well, really well. They’re really nice. One was even my instructor from back in High school.” Jane answered enthusiastically. Harry had no idea what they were talking about, but he was just politely nodding along with a smile on his lips politely waiting for one of them to explain to him what is was about. 

“Jane applied at the theatre close by.” Louis explained, clearly noticing the fact that Harry had been clueless to what they were talking about. Shooting Harry a small smile in the process to reassure him which was quickly returned with a grateful smile back.

“Costume tailor.” Jane elaborated and Harry answered with a small but truly excited “Cool!” he was actually impressed. He loved it when people actually pursued something that they were passionate about, and by the looks of how Jane was talking about her possible future job she was clearly very passionate about it. He himself was also really glad he was given the opportunity to pursue his own dreams as a footballer, he truly did not know what he would be doing right now if it was not for football. He had finished his high school with a good GPA, however he just hadn’t found a subject where his passions laid. Luckily his parents had supported him in his dreams to become a professional footballer.

“Cross your fingers for me, they will inform me in two weeks if I got the position or not.” Jane said in a nervous tone and Harry truly hoped for her that she would get the position.

“I’m sure you’ll get the position.” Harry said with a big smile at which Jane smiled back at him. He saw Louis looking back and forth between the two of them with a happy look on his face, clearly happy that the two of them were getting along.

“They even have flats for their employees. It would be perfect for me.” Jane rambled on, looking at Louis next to her who was looking back at her with a fond look, making Harry’s doubts grow every second that was ticking by.

“Talking about flats, when do I got to see yours?” Jane asked while she turned her around and shot a quick wink towards Harry, who laughed at the gesture, maybe a tad too loud. 

“Whenever you want.” Harry said with a shrug whilst turning his eyes towards Louis for a second to look at him, where he found Louis already looking at him with a thoughtful look on his face.

“I’ll take a quick look in my agenda once I get home. Thank by the way. Thanks to you, Louis has finally done it.”

“Done what?” Harry asked, clearly confused.

“He’s finally left his mom and dad’s house.” Jane said teasingly whilst she took Louis cheek between her fingers and pinching them like someone’s grandma would do.

“Stop it.” Louis said whilst looking down at the table in embarrassment. Why did she have to bring that up.

“Is he behaving?” Jane asked Harry, further adding to Louis’ embarrassment 

“All right, I’m leaving.” Louis said jokingly, whilst going to stand up and act like he was actually leaving. Even thought, he was actually curious what Harry’s answer would be.

Harry giggled at Louis behaviour, before trying to act serious and answer the question. “so far yes. He never does the washing up or the dishes, actually he doesn’t do any cleaning at all, but I wouldn’t want to live with anyone else than Louis” He answered thoughtfully, trying to act pensive in order to tease Louis. But looking back at the answer, he probably came across as overly fond instead.

\---

“I’ve got to go. I’ve got something to do. Perhaps we’ll see each other later. ” Harry said much to Louis’ disappointment, he never really hung out with friends much, so it felt refreshing to spent an afternoon with Jane and Harry for once. He lost most of his friends when he had decided to go and play football on a professional level. He didn’t really have time to go out with his friends, especially since he wasn’t really allowed to drink a lot as a professional football player, so a lot of his friends thought of him as a buzzkill during a night out and eventually stopped asking him to come along on their weekly hangouts. Luckily, Jane had decided to stick around, and now they were best friends. She understood that he was not always able to hangout, but that made them cherish the moments that they could even more.

“I’d like that.” Jane answered Harry, wait too cheekily in Louis’ opinion.

“Yeah, me too.” Harry said, but his eyes were completely focused on Louis for a moment who was just staring back at Harry silently, whilst Jane was beaming at Harry’s answer.

Harry started walking away, but halfway he looked back once more, meeting Louis’ glance for one more time before quickly turning away with a small smile playing on his lips whilst he looked down as his feet. Louis felt completely endeared by the taller lad, he had been so sweet to Jane, paying attention to her rambling at which even Louis mostly tuned out, whilst also asking a few questions to keep the conversation going.

Harry’s butt swayed as he walked away, almost like he was doing it on purpose, his shirt bunched up perfectly on top of the swell of his butt. Louis was broken out of his trance by a “wow!” that was uttered next to him. He looked to his side were Jane was looking in front of them in a similar amazement as he himself had been feeling.

“What?” He asked her with his eyebrow raised. As an answer Jane lifted her hands and started squeezing the air like she was squeezing a butt. Well, it would seem that he was not the only one who had been impressed by Harry’s assets.

“I can’t believe you.” Louis said with laughter filling his voice whilst he shook his head in amusement. Why was he friends with her again?

“What? He’s super-hot. I’m allowed to say it, right?” Jane said, laughing at him. Clearly Harry had left an impression. He wasn’t really surprised by her reaction if he was honest, anyone with eyes could see that Harry was attractive, he was surprised Harry didn’t have a girlfriend already.

\---

Louis opened the door and walked into the apartment with a bag of groceries in his hand where he was welcomed by Harry who was sitting at the kitchen table reading a newspaper. Something he had discovered over the time that he had lived together with harry was that Harry preferred to read the news on paper, whenever he asked Harry about this he would always get the same answer “It’s just not the same when you read in on your phone, Louis.” Like it was an obvious answer. Louis always just laughed at him whilst he continued to read the news on his phone, like any normal modern person did.

He uttered a quick greeting which broke Harry out of his concentration who immediately greeted him back with a big smile.

“Where’s your girlfriend?” Harry asked him as he put the newspaper back on the table. Louis looked at him with confusion clouding his mind. Did Harry really think that Jane was his girlfriend? Wait a minute..

“Oh, she’s not my girlfriend.” Louis said, laughing at the absurdity of the image of Jane as his girlfriend, and carefully watched Harry’s face for his reaction.

“She’s not?” Harry asked again, just to be sure.

“well, she’s my best friend that’s all. I’ve know her since I was 10.” Louis stated. Harry felt all of his doubts go away, he had been doubting the whole afternoon if Louis and Jane were in a serious relationship or if they were just simply friends, and finally he got the answer.

“So, you’re not having sex?” Harry asked, why couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut? Louis must be totally weirded out by the overly personal question, great way to go at it Harry.. He just wanted to be completely sure, or he would keep doubting constantly.

Louis was a bit shocked by the direct question and he looked up at Harry who looked as he had just asked a completely normal question. “No, we’re not having sex.”

“She does that with other guys.” Louis continued with a small chuckle, laughing at the foolishness of the idea of him and Jane having sex. Sure she was a beautiful girl, but he definitely did not feel attracted to her in that way, she was his best friend nothing more. He looked up at Harry once again whilst he began to unpack his groceries and it almost seemed as Harry was relieved by the answer.

“I see. And you? No girlfriend?” Harry asked, he’s already started with the overly personal and absurd questions so he might as well just get it over with and ask all the questions that he had on his mind.

“Any other questions?” Louis asked back with a defensive tone becoming evident in his voice.

“Nope.” Harry said quickly before trying to laugh the heavy atmosphere in the air away.

“Do you want a steak?” Louis asked, trying to change the subject to something a tad more normal and less invasive.

“No thank you, I’m going out for dinner actually? Going to check the area out some more, seeing as I’m not really from here.”

“See you later.” Louis said just as Harry stood up from his chair and went to put on his jacket. He was a bit disappointed that Harry wasn’t staying to have dinner together with him. He heard a quick “See you later.” from Harry before the lad was out of the door and the apartment was left silent again. That was weird..

\---

The next morning Harry was laying in bed just barely waking up when he saw Louis getting ready to leave the apartment. Where was he planning on going? It was 9:00 and their training didn’t start until 10:00. It’s too late to go somewhere before training, but way too early to actually go to training already. So Harry got out of bed, and walked towards the hall where Louis was putting on his shoes. He just wanted to check out where he was going, that’s all.

“Practice isn’t till 10:00.” Harry said whilst rubbing his eyes sleepily seeing as he had just woken up and was still not feeling completely awake.

“I’m just going to do a little warm-up run, some drills and stuff like that before practice.” Louis said as if it was obvious and he followed up his statement with a cheeky “It wouldn’t hurt you either.”

“What?” Harry asked, feeling a little bit offended. He was perfectly capable of playing football, thank you.

“Working on your left foot.”

“My left foot is great.” Harry answered back defensively before walking to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. It definitely felt like Louis was trying to get to him. He heard the door fall shut behind him, and doubts started hitting him like crazy, what if Louis was right? It wouldn’t hurt to join Louis, he would get to spend more time with him and improve his skills, it’s a win win really.

So that’s how Harry ended up on the field together with louis, dressed up in his training kit already, nobody was on the field except for him and Louis. Louis had laughed at him when he had suddenly appeared and started jogging next to him. Clearly amused by the fact that Harry had decided to join him after the comments he had made.

They were shooting some free kicks in order to improve themselves for the next game, even though in Harry’s opinion he didn’t need any. Everyone on the team knew that his free kicks were great, the ball always soaring over the human wall and flying in, or at least in close proximity of, the goal. So when his fifth free kick went straight into the goal, he threw a wink at Louis as to say ‘look at me I can do it perfectly fine’. 

“Do one with your left foot. “ Louis said not really impressed by Harry’s confidence at this moment, he knew that Harry’s left foot skills where still underdeveloped and that he should improve them to get a better shot at making the first team.

“All right.” Harry said with a laugh and got into the right position in order to shoot with his left foot.

Turned out that he had overestimated his own skills because not even a second later his shot went directly into the fake plastic wall that they had set up, it was pathetic really. Louis laughed at him and jokingly said “why practise when you can already do it, right?”

“Come on, just the left foot.” Louis told him at which Harry softly huffed. Louis was ordering him around, telling him what to do, and he had to admit that he liked it, it suited Louis. It was definitely distractingly hot, which was something that Harry could not use right now, seeing as he was trying to impress the man. 

“Perhaps I don’t need as much practice as you do, old man.” Harry said challenging Louis and he grabbed the ball and started walking towards Louis, trying to pass him and brag a bit. However, that was not what happened, because Louis decided to play dirty and hook is foot around Harry’s ankle who had ended on the floor with a small ‘oof’.

Louis was standing above him, laughing at him, as Harry was glaring up at him from the ground.

“Sorry, the ref didn’t see a thing.” Louis said jokingly while he held his hand up in the air, this only earned him a harder glare from Harry.

“Come on, bambi.” Louis said as he offered his hand to Harry in order to pull himself up from the ground.

“I’m not a bambi. You made me trip.” Harry grumbled as he had his both feet on the ground again, he was perfectly capable of walking, it was Louis fault who had made him trip on purpose.

“well, your left foot says otherwise.”


	7. is it just me?

“Don’t dip it in all the way. Just roll it over the grate.” Louis heard his dad saying to Harry who was in the room next to his own. His dad was helping Harry and him paint their bedroom walls, he had been eager to help after not having seen Louis for 2 weeks. They had planned to paint their rooms immediately when they had moved in, but they had been too busy the past couple of weeks and just hadn’t come around to actually doing it. 

“Paint in two directions. First this way, then this way.” He heard his father continue giving Harry directions on how to paint his wall properly. You would say that painting a wall was supposed to be easy, but Harry had proven that statement to be awfully wrong in his case. The boy was the personification of the word clumsy. He might move gracefully on the pitch during football, with a few exceptions of course, because oh boy he definitely had an affinity for falling when he was around Louis. Even as gracefully as he normally was on the field, Harry had proven himself to be the exact opposite of graceful in his day to day life, the amount of tea cups that had fallen on the floor and shattered to pieces the last couple of weeks that he and harry had been living together was astounding. 

“That ensures consistent coverage.” Louis’ dad, who he had learned was named Dan, continued on with his explanation whilst Harry was looking at him and eagerly nodding along while holding a paint roller covered in bright yellow paint that reminded him of sunflowers. 

Harry started rolling his paint roller against his wall , watching it slowly cover his white wall with a bright yellow layer of paint, his brows furrowed at how much he was concentrating, trying to make sure that the layer remained even. 

“That’s good. Are you sure about the colour?” Dan asked Harry whilst raising his brows at the boy, because who would possibly choose to colour their bedroom wall, the wall they would have to look at every morning when waking up and every night when going to sleep, a bright yellow colour. 

“Yes.” Harry answered back. He knows that yellow definitely wasn’t everyone’s favourite colour, but it was his favourite. It reminded him of the warmth of the sun shining on his face during a nice summer day. He felt like it would be a good colour to wake up to everyday. 

“Don’t you think it looks all right?” Harry asked Dan whilst his body was still turned towards the wall , rolling the paint on the wall with his paint roller, suddenly feeling insecure about his colour choice. What if Louis didn’t like it as well. 

“No, it looks all right, I was just wondering.” Dan answered before grabbing his own paint brush and walking towards the other side of the wall to continue painting alongside Harry. 

“What got you into football?” Harry was used to being asked this exact question every time he met someone new. It was the question everyone resorted to once a silence that they wanted to fill had been formed in their conversation. It’s not that he hated the question, it just grows old very quickly when you’ve been asked it your entire life by almost everyone you’ve met. He’d rather just talk about other things of his life, his other hobbies for example. Even though football was the biggest part of his life he didn’t want it to define him. 

“My stepdad dragged me to the field ever since I took my first step as a little child.”

“I did that with Louis as well, the earlier the better.” 

“You played as well, right?” Harry asked, actually interested, Louis must have gotten his skills from somewhere. 

“Midfield, fifth division.” Dan reminisced, thinking back at the time where football used to be his whole life, the time when he played 6 days a week hoping to make it as a pro in the harsh world that was football. 

“I never made pro, but that’s all right. At least Louis has a chance now. ” He had accepted a long time ago that he was never going to make it as a pro, no matter how hard he tried, it just wasn’t meant to be. He was happy that his son was currently living the live that he once had desired so much. It might not have been meant for him, but it was definitely meant for Louis. That boy had so much talent flowing through his veins, playing better than everyone on the pitch ever since he joined the club after being scouted when he was 12. It was just a matter of time before he finally got to enter the first team, he was sure it was going to happen after this year. 

“You complement each other. You’re stronger, but he’s very fluid and fast. It works together perfectly.” Dan said to Harry, after seeing Harry and Louis play together for 3 weeks he couldn’t believe how well they worked together already. Scoring goal after goal.

“and he’s got a nose for goals.” Harry added on to Dan’s remark, smiling at the thought of him and Louis playing together. Louis always scoring more goals than him, constantly rubbing that fact in his face. 

“So do you. But you should train your left foot more.” Dan reasoned back at which Harry let out a small chuckle as he thought back to the time when Louis had said the same when they had been practicing together before their training.

“That’s what I heard.” Harry muttered and this time it was Louis in the next room who let out a laugh whilst shaking his head, also thinking about the same moment as Harry had been just a few seconds before. 

\--- 

“and air out the place, so it dries up nicely” His dad continued whilst carrying a folded up ladder which he placed against the wall quickly before pulling Louis into a quick hug goodbye. 

“It’s all packed up.” Harry said as he reached the top of the stairs, seeing Louis release his dad from a hug in the process. He was jealous of the relationship Louis had with his dad, he barely saw his. It was nice to see that Louis’ dad cared so much about his son. 

“Great. See you on Saturday for the match.” Dan replied and Harry went to shake his hand before, to his surprise, he was being pulled into a hug of his own. It was nice. In the corner of his eye he saw Louis smiling at them, clearly happy with the scene that was playing out in front of him. 

They both said a quick last goodbye to Dan before walking into the direction of the kitchen.

“Your father is nice.” Harry said when they entered the kitchen, opening the door of the refrigeration in the meanwhile to grab a can of beer, reasoning with himself that he was allowed to celebrate after painting the whole day . 

“yeah, but it’s not like we needed help painting.” 

“He said he used to coach?” Harry asked, his body completely turned towards Louis whilst he took a sip of his drink. 

Louis’ eyes were following the movement subconsciously, before snapping out of it and turning his body away slightly from Harry, remembering to answer the question. “yes for the E juniors at a local club. He was my coach as well till I was about nine.” 

Harry nodded along in understanding whilst Louis continued “That’s why he’s such a know it all with everyone. It drives me mad!” shaking his head slightly whilst he uttered the last part of the sentence. 

“He didn’t do such a bad job, right?” Harry reasoned back with a smile at which Louis turned his head back towards him with a chuckle and uttering “arsekisser” at which Harry started laughing at the double meaning. 

“But yeah, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.” Louis said whilst looking down at his hands. Before turning towards Harry to ask a question. “Can I have one of those?” whilst nodding towards the beer that Harry was holding. 

Harry quickly turned to the fridge and opened it to grab a beer for Louis. Louis reached for the can at which his fingers brushed over Harry’s hand that was holding the can, Goosebumps appearing on Harry’s hand whilst his face flushed slightly, not having expected the sudden brush of Louis’ fingers. Louis shot him a quick smile before opening his can and uttering a small ‘cheers’ and clinking his can against Harry’s. 

\--- 

Him and Harry had decided to go to the fair together as they had finally gotten an afternoon off from football and they’d agreed that it should be celebrated properly. They were walking towards the last stall Louis wanted to do before leaving after having spent hours entertaining themselves with the most ridiculous things at the fair, including one of those machines that measures how hard you can kick a football. Louis had joked about Harry’s weak left foot and the younger man had taken it as a challenge to prove Louis wrong. 

Two girls who looked like they were around their age crossed their paths as they were walking. One of the girls was obviously checking Harry out as she was looking him up and down as she passed him, Harry let out a laugh as he looked over his shoulder and saw that the girl was still looking at him whilst coyly smiling at him. He turned his head back to look in front of him again and turned towards Louis, who was looking distractingly at the pavement below him, and Harry quickly stole a churro from the paper container that Louis was holding. 

A few minutes later they were standing at the stall that Louis had been so desperate to visit. It was the one where you’re supposed to throw a ball at some metal tins that were stacked up in a triangle, in order to make all of them fall. Louis was excitingly throwing a ball at the tins hoping to knock every single one of the tins over, so far he hadn’t succeeded. Harry was standing at the side, refusing to join Louis for the game as he claimed that his hand to eye coordination was absolutely horrible, explaining that he used to want to be a goalkeeper when he was younger but had failed miserably, incapable of even catching one ball. 

During Louis’ last attempt he still failed to knock over all of the tins and he decided to just call it quits, enough is enough. He turned to Harry and proudly stated “I’ve almost got all of them.” Whilst Harry was laughing at him, saying “that’s right.” 

He was offered a basket filled with consolation prices that included multiple keychains. He roamed through the pile of keychains before deciding to go for the small metallic dolphin one. he grabbed the dolphin keychain and turned towards Harry “Here. For you.” 

Harry’s eyes lit up as he accepted the keychain from Louis. “Cool. Thanks.” Harry said softly, whilst starting to blush. It was sweet of Louis to give him the keychain, he certainly hadn’t expected it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit this one was not one of my best chapters, but I hope you guys still like it nevertheless.


	8. some mistakes get made

Harry laid wide awake, facing the ceiling as he simply stared into the abyss above him. He’d been laying in the same exact spot for a few hours, unable to fall asleep as he had initial planned to when he had told Louis that he was going to turn in a bit earlier this night to catch up on some sleep he had been missing out of the last couple of days. In the background he could hear the softest noise coming from the television as Louis had stayed up to play some videogame, probably FIFA knowing him. Harry’s limbs were itching to get up and join Louis on the couch where he had been playing videogames for the last few hours.

Their day had been amazing, they had so much fun together during the carnival. It had been so long since he had truly connected with someone, he never really had a lot of friends, even when he was younger. He wouldn’t say it necessarily bothered him, he was fairly good at being on his own, however he did sometimes miss someone to connect with on a deeper level and to have deep conversations with after midnight. He felt like maybe Louis could be that someone to him, they just seemed to simply understand each other, both on as well as off the pitch.

After a few minutes of extra tossing and turning Harry decided to just get out of bed and join Louis, it was not like he was catching any sleep right now anyways.

Harry stood in the doorway as he rested his shoulder against the doorframe, waiting for Louis to notice his presence.

“Mate, it’s so hot right now. Can’t sleep?” Louis broke the silence, referring to the warm weather they had been having due to the summertime, causing their shoebox apartment to get hot and humid to the point where airing out the place didn’t even seem to make the temperature drop anymore.

“Nope, I’ve been trying but no luck. “ Harry said, shooting Louis a small tight lipped smile receiving a soft smile from Louis in return conveying how sorry he was feeling for him.

“Can I join?” Harry asked, at which Louis nodded in confirmation.

Harry moved to sit besides him and grabbed the controller Louis handed him.

\---

Half an hour later Harry was failing miserably at winning from Louis, losing every single match they had finished already and heading to losing their current one as well as he was 10-1 behind at the moment with only 20 minutes left on the clock. As good as he might be on a real pitch, he absolutely sucked at FIFA. Which is something no one ever sees coming, because why would a professional footballer be so bad at a videogame that is literally about what he does for a living. He agrees that with his knowledge and understanding of the game he should perform way better, however he just sucks at videogames in general. Louis however, was absurdly good at the videogame.

Harry came up with a plan to throw Louis off his game, and started trying to distract him. He tried to tickle his sides, but the only reaction he got out of Louis was a quick ‘hey!’ and nothing more, barely even a flinch, he just remained focussed on the game no matter what.

Harry decided to go for the most childish thing he could possible think of, something no one could ignore. He wetted his pinkie finger with some saliva before quickly sticking it into Louis ear.

At this Louis turned around and glared at Harry, looking into his eyes. Maybe it was the fact that Harry was a bit sleep deprived, or maybe it was the heat, but this was the moment that Harry decided to lean in an connect his lips to Louis’.

He slowly felt Louis’ slightly chapped lips response to the movement of his own soft ones and Harry slowly wrapped one of his arms around Louis’ neck, deepening the kiss. However, realization seemed to dawn on Louis as he realised what was going on, his lips froze and he quickly recoiled from Harry’s hold. He looked speechless at Harry for a few seconds, seemingly conflicted, before slowly getting up from the couch and walking through the doorway of the living room, leaving Harry behind on his own with only his own regret left to keep him company. Harry stared at the doorway Louis had walked through for a few seconds, the mistake he had just made sinking in. Why did he had to do that? Why did he have to ruin the friendship they had?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably the shortest update I have ever done. I am currently in my finals for uni so I don't have load of times to spend on writing, please bear with me! :)


	9. we don’t speak with words

Harry woke up as daylight seeped through the gap of his curtains. He let out a soft grunt as he stretched his body just as the happenings of yesterday night dawned on him. He had kissed Louis. Somewhere in his sleep deprived mind he thought it had been a good idea, however his thoughts had quickly been proven wrong as Louis had escaped as fast as he could after Harry’s lips had touched his and left him all by himself. Harry let out a load groan as he pushed his head into his pillow as the memory of last night consumed him completely, regret clouding his mind. How could he have been so stupid?

Looking back at the moment, it really had seemed right. He thought had felt some kind of tension between the two of them since he had walked into the room and sat next to Louis on the couch. Time had even seemed to be frozen as they had stared at each other the few milliseconds before the ‘kiss’, but apparently those feelings had been more one-sided than Harry had expected as his gut feeling had obviously been proven to be wrong.

He removed his face from his pillow, sighing for one last time before rolling out of bed. It was time to face reality he told himself. Seeing as Louis was his teammate, it would prove quite impossible to ignore the current situation he had put them both in, so it was time for them to clear the air between them. He’d just apologize and explain that he had read the air wrong, that it was a mistake and it wouldn’t happen again. They’d be fine again and go back to normal. What had he been thinking anyways. Getting involved with a teammate is never a good idea anyways.

Harry rubbed his eyes with his hand that was balled up into a fist, trying to remove the sleepiness that remained from last night, as he walked into the kitchen where Louis was sitting whilst eating a bowl of what seemed to be cereal. Louis looked him up and down as he had walked into the kitchen before softly greeting him with a barely understandable and suspiciously casual “hey” for the situation they had found themselves in.

Harry quickly returned the greeting as he poured himself a bowl of cereal as well since he couldn’t be bothered to actually cook something for breakfast this morning.

As he sat down across from Louis he tried to act as normal as possible when he spoke up, trying to make some small talk “is Leicester City any good?"

“Yeah, they were the champions last season.” Louis told him as he looked into Harry’s eyes for a tad too long almost like he was searching for something on Harry’s face

Harry was about to speak again, finally finding the courage to speak up about yesterday’s happening as Louis quickly interrupted him as he was about to speak “we haven’t beat them in forever.”.

Well two could play at that game Harry thought to himself, carrying on with the conversation as nothing had happened “time to change that, before any mental blocks develop.”

Louis said nothing for a full minute just looking up at Harry and quickly nodding whilst awkwardly looking at him, a bit of tension still evident in the air. Harry really hoped this wouldn’t carry on in the game, as their teammates would definitely notice that something was going on between the two of them.

“Well. I’m eager to play against them.” Harry said trying to break the awkward silence before quickly going back to eating his cereal.

\---

Fast forward a few hours, they were in the midst of the game against Leicester City.

Louis was running towards the goal, dribbling the ball with his feet as he heard his coach scream in the distance “Pass it towards Harry Louis, Harry, to Harry!” He looked up and saw Harry a few meters in front of him in the perfect position to score a goal, so he really didn’t have any other choice than to pass the ball to Harry.

Harry received the ball and kicked the ball as hard as he could making it soar into the net of the goal, the goalie unable to even get a chance to catch the ball. He hear everyone cheer and run up to him, happiness soaring through him. A few of his teammates came up to him to hug him and to give him high fives to celebrate, however Louis stayed at a safe distance from him obviously on purpose. Harry looked down at the ground, his happiness from a few seconds prior being tainted by the sadness that was starting to seep through him.

A few minutes later the referee blew his whistle loudly 3 times indicating that the game had finally ended. They had won the game to their luck. Despite scoring 3 times Harry hadn’t felt as lucky during the game seeing as Louis had been literally dodging him and avoiding eye contact during the complete game, not even coming up to celebrate scoring with him once.

The team is standing in a big circle, arms slung around each other as the coach was giving them their evaluation talk of the game. Louis was standing in the direct eye sight of Harry, trying to avoid eye contact as much as possible which was really aggravating to Harry. How did they go from being best friends to completely ignoring each other with just one kiss that couldn’t even be counted as a proper kiss?

“Lads, that was an outstanding team performance, congrats.” Coach started, looking around at the players standing in the circle.

“We’ve beaten the champs so we’re in first place now.” Coach continued and all of the players roared at the news. Harry looked at Louis, who was cheering along happily, smiling from ear to ear.

“But we still have a long way to go. We have got to keep this level of concentration.” Coach continued in a stern load voice as he looked around the circle.

“Louis, Harry, great job today.” Coach said at which Harry returned his gaze once again to Louis who wasn’t looking back at him, instead looking at the coach, not letting his gaze waver one second. He had obviously been trying to ignore Harry the whole day, and even now he was purposely ignoring Harry’s gaze that was settled on him.

“Today we enjoy it. Rest up and I will see you lads on Monday” Coach finished his speech with a curt nod as he walked away from the team, leaving them to celebrate their big win of the day. As soon as the coach left the team started jumping, breaking up the circle as a consequence as they huddled together.

\---

Later that evening Louis was sitting in the kitchen fiddling with some random game on his phone of which he forgot the name whilst drinking a beer, a way of celebrating their achievement of the day, as Harry walked in freshly showered, his hair still slightly dripping, making dark spots on his light grey t-shirt that was clinging tightly to his shoulders. Harry softly greeted him as he walked towards the fridge, diverting his eyes as quickly as possible from Louis, almost like he was scared of Louis reaction.

Louis knew he had fucked up yesterday when he had run off after Harry had tried to kiss him. The thing is, it’s not like he didn’t want to kiss Harry, because believe him strangely enough he did want to kiss him. Harry was handsome, kind, everything you could wish for. However, he still couldn’t really believe the possibility that he might be gay. Never had he really considered the past 21 years of his life that he might be into guys, it just seemed absurd to him that something big like that could have gone unnoticed by himself.

Out of nowhere Harry turned around and leaned against the kitchen counter, facing towards Louis as he looked downcast with a troubling look on his face. Harry brought his hand up towards his lips and started nervously fiddling with his lower lip. Louis looked up at him, focussing his complete attention on Harry, waiting for his next step.

Harry looked up, making eye contact with Louis as he spoke “about yesterday.. I am really sorry. I obviously read the air wrong, it will not happen again” an apologetic tone to his voice as he turned his eyes downcast again directly after uttering his apology softly.

Harry jumped at the sound at the sound of a chair screeching against the floor and as he kept looking downwards scared of his expectation of Louis walking out again and leaving for real this time becoming reality.

His expectations where proven wrong when he saw Louis’ shoe covered feet nearing his bare ones. As he looked up he saw Louis standing barely 10 inches from him and as Harry looked at him with eyes filled with confusion he felt Louis hand come up to his neck as he saw Louis coming closer and closer.

Suddenly he felt Louis’ slightly chapped lips crashed on his.


End file.
